Beyond the Boys’ Club: Charlotte Wessels
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The post Beyond the Boys’ Club: Charlotte Wessels appeared first on Consequence.
Beyond the Boys’ Club is a monthly column from journalist and radio host Anne Erickson, focusing on women in the heavy music genres, as they offer their perspectives on the music industry and discuss their personal experiences. Erickson is also a music artist herself and has a new EP and single out, “Last Love,” with Upon Wings. The latest edition of Beyond the Boys’ Club features an interview with Charlotte Wessels.
Many metal fans came to know and follow Charlotte Wessels during her time as lead vocalist of popular Dutch symphonic metal band Delain.
Wessels and Delain parted ways in 2021, and now she’s embarking on a journey into solo music. Her latest solo album, Tales From Six Feet Under Vol II, arrived in October, offering a genre-spanning collection of rock, pop and metal, all produced, performed and programmed in her own Six Feet Under studio.
For Heavy Consequence‘s latest edition of “Beyond the Boys’ Club,” Wessels spoke with us about the new album, the challenges of being a woman in metal music, advice for up-and-coming musicians, and much more.
Congratulations on your new album, Tales from Six Feet Under Volume II. This record features such a diverse mix of genres. Musically, what was your vision with this record?
I think this record was similar to the previous one, the first volume, in that it’s a collection of songs that I put out on my Patreon. The way I work is that every month, I sit down and release a song there, so I get to start from scratch every month, which is very refreshing. Because of that, I don’t think about how each song will fit with a bigger project. I just make a song.
How does creating each song individually change how the full album develops?
I think that really allows for the album to be eclectic. When you’re working on a record and thinking about it, you’re more tempted to make something uniform sounding. Since I’m starting from scratch every month, it’s very easy to allow the song to be what it wants to be.
You have such an eclectic sound. Who are some of your early musical influences?
My parents listened to Genesis and Pink Floyd and Kate Bush. I think I got a lot of the more progressive rock influence than most early on, and my parents had really good taste in music, so I’m really grateful for that. I feel like the music I was brought up with were all heroes of mine.
A standout single on the new album is “Human to Ruin.” Tell me the story behind this track.
It’s a more progressive track musically, and I was really happy to see that it got quite some attention. It got playlisted, and none of my previous songs did. I think that has to do with the fact that nothing has qualified to be metal, and this one kind of did. It’s good to know that at least when I’m dong metal, it still gets picked up. I was happy to see it get attention. Lyrically, it’s about the things that you say to yourself when you feel like you are undeserving of love or when you want love for selfish reasons. Or, when you’re afraid you don’t deserve someone, whether that is a partner or friend or child, because you’ll just ruin them. I know it’s a very pessimistic thought, but I thought if I make it a song that you scream out loud.
How is releasing a solo album different from what you used to do in Delain?
It’s different in the sense that a I do it all by myself now. It’s very different in good and bad way. It’s nice to be able to have an idea and carry it out from A to Z. When you work together, you get to incorporate each other’s strengths, but also it feels like you have to compromise. Often, songwriting is so deeply personal, when you write a song with multiple people, it can feel like you have to compromise. It’s also a lot more work. But, I learned a lot. When I was in a lockdown situation and had to do it all, I was really left to my own devises, so I had to learn to do a lot of things I hadn’t done before, and I’m glad I did.
You’ve been in the metal world for several years now and have experienced the genre’s evolution. Do you see a difference in the number of women in metal and rock music today verses when you started out?
I always feel like I’m already a little bit more second generation. I had examples to look up to already. I never thought it was weird that I was going to be a women in metal. I didn’t think it was super revolutionary to do this, because I listened to Within Temptation and Nightwish and Lacuna Coil, and I do see there are even more now. I’m hoping the next women starting in metal will not have a bad experience, because for me, I had the examples and there was representation, but there was still a lot of bias and pressure from record labels to look a certain way. I still had to make a lot of effort to make sure everyone knew that I had an active role in the songwriting process and things like that. I hope that for people who started later than I did, that not only do they have the representation, but also that they will lose some of that bias and be treated equally.
What changes have you seen for women in heavy music over the years?
I don’t know if the changes for me that I’ve seen are the same as for other women. It’s not like all of us call each other every night to see how we’re doing, but I think a couple changes I’ve seen is that it has been a while since I’ve been asked very blatantly sexist questions. They happen every now and again, but it’s less than when I started. I do think there’s so much emphasis on looks, so this hasn’t changed at all. I feel the #MeToo movement changed a lot. People wanting inappropriate things from women in metal is detected much sooner, and it feels like it’s become more accepted to speak up for victims of that. The metal world moves along with the general world.
What advice would you have for women looking to get into metal music?
I would tell them to take a lot of opportunities. When I started out, I was in high school. I was in eight different bands, and it was so good to do so many different things. I was in orchestra and choirs and bands and a singer-songwriter duo with my friend, so I was doing a lot of things. I learned doing all those things that if you are super selective very early on, you might miss out on the thing that will refuel your creative heart.
Beyond the Boys’ Club: Charlotte Wessels
Anne Erickson
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